Eco-friendly bicycles & E-bikes

Cycling has become increasingly popular in recent years, particularly since 2020 when the Covid pandemic prompted more people to take up cycling for leisure and transport. Following the end of national lockdowns there was a slight dip in cycling activity, but demand for bicycles and interest in cycling remains high.

Demand for e-bikes is also increasing. Currently, around 14% of cyclists in the UK own an e-bike – a figure which has doubled in the last couple of years – and growth looks set to continue.

Over a third of adults in Great Britain are cyclists, with 21% of adults riding at least once a week. However, transport in the UK is dominated by cars. According to the charity Cycling UK, in 2020 cycling represented only 1.8% of all traffic in Great Britain (cars and taxis 73.4%), though this figure was double the average between 2015 and 2019.

Compared to its European neighbours, the UK lags behind on ‘cycling modal share’, i.e. the share of people cycling in comparison to other modes of transport. The UK’s meagre 2% puts it in 22nd place when compared to the 27 countries in the EU. The leader of the pack is the Netherlands, with a cycling modal share of 27%, followed by Hungary (22%), Sweden (16.5%), Denmark (16%), Finland (13.4%) and Germany (11.8%).

How eco-friendly is cycling ?

All sectors of the economy have an environmental and social impact – especially those that produce physical goods – which is why we expect businesses to report on and minimise their impact. The last time we examined the bicycle and e-bike sectors, in 2018, we found very little in the way of corporate social responsibility reporting.

Not much has changed this time round, with the vast majority of brands doing little when it comes to reducing their environmental impacts and demonstrating that workers’ rights are consistently respected in their supply chains.

This is something that Trek, one of the first companies to look in depth at its carbon impact, readily admits. Its 2021 Sustainability Report begins with the following admission:

“We make a product that provides a solution to many of the world’s most complex problems – congestion, public health, climate change. But for too long, cycling has been given an environmental pass based on this assumption.”

Bicycle and e-bike brands must address this lack of self-reflection and scrutinise their environmental and social impacts, publish their findings, and lay out plans for how to reduce these impacts.

The market for bikes and e-bikes is growing rapidly, which is fantastic, but brands also need to ensure their products are produced responsibly and sustainably.

Cycling as low-carbon transport

Using a bike or e-bike for transport is a great way to reduce your carbon emissions. Of course, cycling still has some carbon impact, primarily from the production of the bike and the food required to power the cyclist, but it is far lower than using other forms of transport, particularly petrol and diesel cars. For this reason, increasing bike usage is an essential part of moving towards a low-carbon economy.

Is cycling sustainable? Embodied carbon emissions

Embodied carbon emissions are those associated with a product before it is actually used. In this sense they are fixed and do not increase or decrease with a product’s use. The embodied carbon emissions of a bicycle are primarily related to its manufacture and distribution from factory to customer.

The cycling sector has a poor record on measuring and reducing its carbon emissions.

In 2021 one of the largest brands, Trek, looked at four models (one of which was an e-bike). It found that the average impact was 174kg CO2e per bike, though there was considerable variation between the models, mainly stemming from the different materials and components used. (See table below.)

The embodied emissions of the average car, for comparison, are 6-7 tonnes for a petrol/diesel model and 10-11 tonnes for an electric vehicle.

Source: Trek Sustainability Report 2021. *Trek chose one model from each of these categories for its calculations.

How can you be a more eco-friendly cyclist?

Mechanical bikes do not require fuel in the same way a car does, but they do still need energy generated by the rider. The source of this energy, i.e. what type of food the rider eats, greatly affects the carbon impact associated with riding a bike.

According to scientist Mike Berners-Lee, a well-used and well-maintained bike is about 10 times more carbon efficient than the average petrol car, though only if it is powered by low-carbon carbohydrates.

For example, he calculates:

• carbon impact of cycling a mile powered by bananas = 40g CO2e
• carbon impact of cycling a mile powered by cheeseburgers = 310g CO2e.

A meat-eating human cyclist's impact is the equivalent of driving the same distance in an energy efficient car. And if you choose to get all your energy from air-freighted asparagus then the impact of cycling a mile increases to 4.7kg CO2e!

Are electric bikes environmentally friendly?

We looked at the usage emissions of e-bikes and the implications of the battery.

The carbon impact of travelling a mile by a fully electric bike, travelling at 12 mph with no hills or stops is only 3g CO2e – substantially less than travelling the same distance on a mechanical bike. How could this possibly be?

According to Mike Berners-Lee, this is because the energy powering an electric bike is much more efficiently generated than the energy powering the cyclist. For example, solar panels are much more efficient at capturing the sun’s energy than a banana tree – and only a small amount of the energy absorbed by the tree finds its way into the banana, which also has to be transported around the world before it can be eaten. Another important factor is that electric motors are about four times as efficient as human legs at turning chemical energy into bike propulsion.

The difference between mechanical bikes and e-bikes is even more stark if we assume the electricity used to power the e-bike is solely from renewable sources. “If all our electricity was from solar power,” asserts Berners-Lee, “the electric bike would beat the conventional bike by a factor of nearly 1,000.”

There is an important caveat to Berners-Lee’s figures, which is that they are for a fully motorised bike whereas, in the UK, e-bikes must be a hybrid between pedalling and motor power. The actual carbon impact for e-bikes in the UK is therefore somewhere between these figures and those for mechanical bikes, given above.

Of course, there are other reasons to choose a mechanical bike, such as wanting a more intense work-out than you would get if you cycled the same distance on an e-bike. There are also other ethical issues associated with e-bikes, notably the sourcing of the materials used to make the batteries, which is discussed in our updated guide to cars.

Bike batteries and motors

Most e-bike brands do not produce the batteries and motors used for the e-bike, but rely on specialist electronics companies. Major producers of batteries include Bosch, Panasonic, Samsung, and Sony, while major producers of motors are Bosch, Brose, Shimano and Yamaha.

Which brands make e-bikes and push bikes?

This guide covers push (mechanical) bikes and e-bikes. Some brands make both, but some only make one sort.

As with mechanical bikes, e-bikes can be different types such as mountain, road, trekking etc.

Who makes folding bikes?

Folding bikes are particularly useful if you don’t have much storage space or need to take your bike on packed trains. At the time of writing, the following brands offered them:

Mechanical bikes: Adventure, Apollo, Brompton, Carrera, Coyote, Dahon, Dawes, Falcon, Raleigh, Saracen, Schwinn, and Viking.

E-bikes: Apollo, Brompton, Carrera, Dahon, Dawes, Falcon, Gocycle, Lectro, Li-fe, Raleigh,Viking, and Woosh.

Folding bikes don't always mean small wheels - some brands make wheels up to 27", like a standard bike.

Where are bikes made?

It’s not always easy to find out where bikes are made. On the whole, companies are coy about it, maybe because they’d like their customers to imagine that their bikes are still made by local flat-capped artisans. In reality, it’s much more likely that they’re made in China or Taiwan as both countries are massive producers.

Giant is a Taiwanese company, and its bikes are made in Taiwan and China.

Trek are mostly made in Taiwan by Giant.

Hero bikes (Insync, Coyote, Riddick, De Novo, Ryedale Viking, Lectro) are made in India and Sri Lanka.

Accell Group which owns Raleigh stated in its annual report that its bicycles are assembled and painted in the Netherlands, Turkey and Hungary, but it has a supplier code of conduct in Mandarin, so we assume some parts at least come from China.

Halfords told us that its bikes are currently manufactured and assembled in a number of countries including Taiwan, China, Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam, Bangladesh and Portugal. Halfords Group brands include Apollo, Boardman, Carrera, Pendleton and Voodoo.

E-bike brands Woosh and Kudos state on their websites that their bikes are made in China.

Are there any British-made bicycles?

Some brands market themselves as British made: Enigma Titanium states that it does “everything under one roof” in its workshop in East Sussex.

Pashley says that its bikes are “hand-crafted in Britain, in the town of Stratford-upon-Avon”; and Brompton states that “every Brompton bike is handmade and quality assured in our London factory.”

While it’s true that many of the bikes are made in the UK, Enigma's Titanium bikes are not, and it’s likely that many of the parts are not. We weren’t able to check this directly with the companies, but government import data showed that all three companies imported parts such as wheel rims and spokes, forks and pedals from outside the EU.

Invisible workers within the cycling industry

Many of the manufacturing countries mentioned above are places where workers’ rights are not always respected and independent unions are weak or banned. We know this because, as well making bikes, they are significant contributors to the garment industry – a sector which has been the subject of scrutiny for over two decades.

It is now common for clothing companies to publish the names and addresses of all their supplier factories, which enables unions, NGOs and journalists to hold them to account for abuses that take place in their supply chains. It doesn’t end the abuses by itself but it is an essential first step.

We hope that, as well as taking their first steps towards acknowledging the impact of their manufacturing on the climate, bicycle companies will recognise their responsibilities to workers in their supply chains and become fully transparent about where their bicycles and components are made.

Costs: bikes vs cars

Bicycles are not only more environmentally friendly than cars, but they are also cheaper in nearly every sense. The purchase price of cars has risen greatly in recent years. A study by Moneybarn, which looked at the prices of 86 popular cars, found that between 2011 and 2021 the average price of a new car increased by 44%, equivalent to almost £11,000.

The ongoing costs of using a bicycle are also significantly less than those of using a car. Bicycles require maintenance and the occasional replacing of parts (as do cars), but in 2020 these costs only averaged £0.20 per week, compared with £8.30 for cars.

Bicycles also do not incur direct fuel costs, whereas most cars require petrol or diesel, which have seen sharp increases in price since 2020 when the average spent on car fuel was already £22.30 per week.

Cars also require insurance, which can be staggeringly expensive, especially for younger drivers, whereas bike insurance is not a legal requirement.

Source: Cycling UK. *ONS data includes 'other vehicles', not just bicycles.

Repairing or hiring bikes and local bike workshops

If you want to reduce waste from your bike and save money, good maintenance is essential. Keep your bike indoors or undercover. Clean it regularly with soap and water and keep the chain lubricated.

If you're new to bikes, look for a local bike shop or workshop (also known as bike kitchens) where you can learn maintenance tips and tricks. 

We've listed nearly 50 local bike workshops or cycling cafes which offer a range of services including drop-in or formal repair sessions, hire of bikes, second-hand bikes and a sense of community. If you know of a place currently not featured in the list let us know so more people can benefit. Email us on enquiries@ethicalconsumer.org

If you’re not the hands-on type, get the bike serviced by a professional once a year, or more often, if it gets heavy use.

Recycling your bike: what to do with your old bike

Even with the most caring owner, a bike might not live forever, or it may just not meet your needs any more. Some businesses buy back old bikes. For example, Halfords takes back its own-brand bikes in return for vouchers, and we found a number of local bike shops offering part exchange so, if you’re buying a new bike, it’s worth asking the shop if they’ll take back your old one.

For owners of high-end bikes, Cycle Exchange buys and does part exchanges.

A number of charities accept donations of old bikes. Some of them refurbish and resell the bikes so they may be a good option if you’re after a second-hand bike too.

The table below outlines some national, regional and local schemes for recycling your bike.

Can you recycle tyres and inner tubes?

Punctured inner tubes can be patched many times and still remain sound. Wear to your tyres can be reduced by keeping them at the right pressure and checking for and removing embedded debris. But ultimately both will have to be replaced.

To avoid sending them to landfill, try reusing them. Inner tubes make great bungee cords and old tyres can be used to brush up your hula-hooping skills. If that doesn’t appeal, inner tubes and tyres can be recycled with Velorim for use in flooring, construction and insulation. There are drop off centres around the country but there is a small fee involved, typically 55p per tyre and 25p per tube. Alternatively, you can donate inner tubes to Cycle of Good which sends them to Malawi where they are upcycled into wallets and belts.

Ethical issues of bicycles

Carbon Management & Reporting

This rating is new since we last looked at bikes in 2018. It requires discussion of a company’s carbon impact, reporting of emissions, and future plans to reduce emissions. The sector does not do well on this issue and as a result most companies’ overall scores are lower than last time.

Only two brands received our middle rating: Raleigh (Accell Group) and Trek. All other companies received our worst rating. Trek discussed its carbon impact and ways it would cut its emissions. Raleigh also did this and had a target to cut its emissions in line with international agreements. If other companies mentioned the issue at all, it was to assert bikes’ intrinsically green credentials as part of their marketing.

However, there does seem to be some realisation that the sector needs to do better on this issue.

The Shift Cycling Industry Climate Commitment is an initiative to encourage the sector to recognise and reduce its contribution to climate change. Of the companies reviewed in this guide, only Brompton and Specialized have signed so far.

The signatories state: “The biggest part of the environmental impact of our products arises from production; 50-80% of the carbon emissions take place when we extract, source and produce materials and parts.”

They also acknowledge that the use of bikes currently plays too small a role in balancing the sector’s carbon footprint from production. The signatories have committed to measuring and reporting on emissions by 2023 and disclosing plans to reduce emissions by at least 55% by 2030 – although no date is given for disclosure.

The initiative doesn’t involve many of the bike sector’s biggest companies and its commitments have come relatively late compared to some other sectors, but the move away from the lazy assumption that bikes have little or no carbon impact is a welcome development.

Animal Rights and Factory Farming

Seven companies lost marks for use of leather in their products: Brompton, Dahon, Halfords, Kudos, Pashley, Specialized, and Trek. On the whole, these companies only sold a few leather products which were often accessories such as grips and jackets. Most saddles viewed were made of synthetic leather or plastics, although Pashley bikes still have animal-derived leather saddles. Pon Holdings (Cannondale, Focus, Gazelle, GT, Kalkhoff, Mongoose, Schwinn) lost marks for its subsidiary URUS Group’s involvement in factory farming.

Conflict minerals

We expect all companies producing electronic goods, including those producing e-bikes, to have an adequate policy on the sourcing of conflict minerals to ensure that minerals such as tantalum, tin, tungsten and gold are sourced responsibly.

As in 2018, when we last researched the e-bike sector, no brands had any policies on this issue. All brands that sold e-bikes therefore lost marks in the Habitats & Resources, and Human Rights categories.

E-bikes and electric vehicles also require cobalt, which is an essential part of lithium-ion batteries, the sourcing of which comes with its own risks (see the updated car guide for more on this issue).

Pollution & Toxics

We also expect all companies producing electronic goods to have policies to phase out the use of PVC, phthalates, and brominated flame retardants.

Again, no companies producing e-bikes had policies on this issue, so all lost a whole mark under Pollution & Toxics.

Additional research for this guide by Alex Crumbie.